Between the Covers

Hardcover. Large oblong octavo. String-tied red leather-grained cloth over boards. 84 gelatin silver snapshot images (and one commercial image) mounted from one to six to a page, rectos only, mostly captioned. Each page with glassine tissue guard. Images range mostly between 2" x 2.5" and 3" x 4.5". The photos are mostly fine, modest wear to the binding, but sound and very good. The captioned images indicate a sea voyage that commences on *H.M.S. Dilward* in March, 1953, through the Suez Canal. Arriving in Korea at "Area 3," about 22 images follow showing British soldiers in camp, with the dining tent, preparing tea, the parade ground, a batman at work, three of weapons cleaning by both British or Korean Troops, a couple of group portraits of 1st Platoon, A Company (laid in is a sheet of paper where someone has made a contemporary list of the names of the soldiers in the Platoon), along with shirtless and identified images of a few soldiers, the Korean Cook, a Korean named "Scochie," referred to as "A Katcom," and the R.M. Band as they leave Kure on *H.M.T. Asturias* in August, 1953 (shortly after the ceasefire on July 27th). The journey continues to Hong Kong (with a partially obscured image of a "Drunken Ex-POW" being restrained on a gangplank; the next stop is Singapore with images of the city (and four of the Raffles Hotel); the rest are uncaptioned and seem to indicate a journey back to the Middle East with shipboard images, beach scenes, and three of a boxing match. A pleasing albeit brief representation of the British experience in the last few months of the Korean Conflict, and in our experience not often seen.

Item #402081